Members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee for Clean Air and Nuclear Safety convened June 30 to discuss several of the Environmental Protection Agency’s new air emissions rules for power plants, which are expected to be issued in the near future. Tri-State’s senior vice president of external affairs, Barbara Walz, was among the expert witnesses who testified at the hearing.

Walz was invited to participate by Senator John Barrasso, R-WY, who serves on the committee. “It’s vitally important that members of Congress are aware of some of the misguided policies and regulations that the EPA is considering,” Walz said. “For example, if enacted, the proposed Utility Maximum Achievable Control Technology rule could end up costing Tri-State and other electric
utilities billions of dollars over the next few years – and in our case, that would have a direct impact on our member co-ops and their end-use consumers.”

Other witnesses who testified included EPA assistant administrator Gina McCarthy, as well as Bryan Shaw, the chairman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, who recently said, “This [Clean Air Transport] rule, if we correctly understand its final form, puts at risk the economic future by jeopardizing power generation and those dependent on affordable electricity in Texas.”